Love Child
by Krazee Kaz
Summary: Adam catches up with an old flame but gets much more than he bargained for.
1. Part 1

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
Love Child ~ Part 1

_Main Characters: Adam, Hyper, Hi-Ho, Sally._   
_Disclaimer: Characters belong to LWT. Although part of this fic is based on a real life event, this story and the characters portrayed are fictitious. I would just like to add the message that hoax calls cost lives – think before you dial._

Elaine had been trying to think of ways to improve her profits in the Oliver Twist. Adam had suggested she should host a quiz night, only because he thought he would have an advantage with the Blue Watch team. Elaine, however, had other ideas. 

"I thought you said you had a secret weapon!" Hyper was complaining as Adam took his place with the Blackwall team. 

"Yeah, yeah," Adam grinned. "She'll be arriving shortly." 

"Oh, it's a she is it?!" Sally grinned. 

"She's a genius." 

"Oh yeah? And how did you manage to pull her?!" Hyper questioned. 

"I didn't pull her actually!" Adam admitted. "She's just a friend!" 

"Yeah, yeah," Sally continued to wind him up. 

George entered the pub, with his fiancée, Andie. They joined the Blackwall team, who were huddled around one of the long rectangular tables. 

"'Ere," someone from Shadbrook yelled over. "I thought we wasn't allowed to bring partners!" 

"What difference would that make to you?" Hi-Ho commented. "You haven't got one!" 

"Ah shut up," the Shadbrook guy muttered. 

The lads' attention was momentarily distracted by the arrival of Rachel Harrison, a tall striking young woman, with dark tanned skin and sun-bleached blonde hair flowing over her shoulders. She grinned at Adam. 

"That's your secret weapon?" Hyper asked. 

"Yeah," Adam couldn't see a problem. 

"Adam," Sally started. "She works at Shadbrook!" 

Adam shrugged and tried to pretend it was news to him. "Does she?" 

Sally rolled her eyes, Hyper grinned. 

"Oi Kiwi," the Shadbrook guy yelled over again as Rachel joined the Blackwall crew. "Ain't you at the wrong table?" 

Rachel looked over and grinned. "I want to be on the winning team," she spoke with a New Zealand accent. "Although I could just play on my own, I'd beat the lot of you!" 

"Cheat," the Shadbrook guy moaned. 

"Shut up Noddy, and where's that pound you owe me?!" Rachel went over to the Shadbrook table to demand her money back. 

"Do we need Shadbrook playing for us?" Sally questioned. 

"Well, er..." Adam started. "Yeah! I'm sure she'll be loyal to Blackwall!" 

"How do you know?" 

Adam just grinned. 

"Did you pay her?!" Hyper questioned. 

"No! She just owes me a favour, that's all," Adam tried to get out of explaining the details of the nature of his relationship with Rachel. 

"What are you two whispering about," Rachel had joined them again, after going to sort Shadbrook out. 

"Nothing," Adam grinned. "Can I get you a drink?" 

"I thought that was the bribe, I'll play for you if I get free drinks all night!" 

Hyper and Sally glared at Adam, who tried to get out of it. 

"Yeah, it's just er... Where's the Guv...?" 

"Don't change the subject, Adam," Hyper warned. 

Adam glared at Rachel. "Now see the trouble you've caused, you've only been here two seconds." 

Rachel grinned and shrugged. "You said you wanted some brains on your team!" 

Hyper and Sally went back to glaring at Adam. 

"Oh yeah, what else did he say?" Sally wanted to know. 

"Can I have that spade back? I can dig my own holes thank you," Adam told Rachel. 

He knew they were just winding him up.   
  


Soon the quiz was well underway. Rachel had settled herself in the corner with an Archers. She lounged back on the long cushioned bench, looking a little bored as the others huddled together trying to figure out the answer to the question they had just been given. 

"Hold on..." Recall looked deep in thought as he consulted his infamous memory bank. "I'll have it in a minute..." 

"We don't have a minute," Hyper reminded him. 

Recall sat, scratching his chin, his brow furrowed. 

Adam shook his head. "What's the answer Rach?" 

They all turned to her, except for Recall who was still racking his brains. 

"I thought I was answering the hard questions!" Rachel complained. 

"Um, this is hard!" Sally replied. 

"The capital of Uruguay is not difficult!" 

"Not for you maybe," Hyper replied. "Mr Memory Man seems to be having some technical difficulties." 

"Paraguay!" Hi-Ho suggested. 

"No, Hi-Ho, that's a different country!" Hyper replied. 

"Oh yeah?" Hi-Ho asked. "Then why do they have the same football team?!" 

Hyper just shook his head, not bothering to explain the ethics of Latin American countries to Hi-Ho. 

Rachel rolled her eyes as if the answer was blindingly obvious. "Montevideo." 

Adam frowned. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes." 

"I've never heard of it!" 

"Just write it down," Sally urged as Elaine, the Quiz Master, was about to move on to the next question. 

"Well I would if I knew how to spell it!" he moaned. 

"M – O," Rachel started slowly as if they were insulting her intelligence. "N – T – E – V – I – D – E – O." 

Adam scribbled the answer down. Even though his mum had organised the quiz, he hadn't been able to see any of the questions, let alone the answers. She had kept them well hidden, even Recall hadn't had the privilege. She reckoned she wanted to keep everything fair. 

"Staying on the subject of capital cities..." Elaine started. 

Recall groaned, it wasn't his strongest subject as he had just proved. He decided he would put his slight memory loss down to old age! 

Elaine continued with the question. "What is the capital of Ecuador?" 

"What?!" Hyper asked. "How are we supposed to know that?!" 

"More to the point," Hi-Ho asked. "Where is that?!" 

"Yeah," Shadbrook joined in, obviously having no idea as to what the answer was either. 

Elaine just shrugged, not wanting to give anything away. 

Hyper turned to Adam. "Did she make these questions up?!" 

"No, I think she's been watching too much Who Wants To Be A Millionaire!" Adam grinned. 

"I couldn't get on that," Rachel spoke up. 

"No? They probably saw you coming!" Adam joked. 

"Right," Rachel pretended to be hurt by the remark. "I'm not telling you the answer now!" 

"Ahh, come on..." 

She was saved as her mobile phone rang. "Sorry," she didn't sound at all apologetic as she stepped out from the table to take the call. 

"What about the answer?!" Adam turned to her. 

She shrugged. "You'll have to wait." 

"You don't know do you?" 

She just smiled at him and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. 

"What?" he asked. "How do you spell that?!" 

She winked at him and left him to figure it out for himself. "Hello?" she spoke into her phone as she stepped out of the pub. 

"What was the question again?" George was asking. 

Hyper shrugged. "Doesn't matter cos no one knows the answer!" 

"It would help if I knew what the question was!" George protested. 

"Nah it wouldn't, mate," Hyper replied. 

"What did she say?" Sally asked Adam. 

"I dunno, Kit-o, or Quit-o or something! Don't ask me, I've never heard of the place!" Adam replied. 

"It's the name of a dance track isn't it?" Hi-Ho asked suddenly. 

They all turned to him. 

"You what?!" Recall asked, not having the first idea about modern music. 

"I'm sure it is," Hi-Ho was adamant. 

"Well that doesn't help us here does it?" Hyper pointed out. 

Hi-Ho shrugged. 

Fortunately for them, Elaine had decided to move away from the capital cities topic. Instead she was asking about Music. Adam grinned. 

"Oh yeah this one's easy," he was scribbling an answer down before anyone else had time to blink. 

Sally snatched the paper. "Give me that," she looked at his answer. "That's not right!" she argued. 

"Yeah it is," he argued back. 

"Um, guys," Rachel had returned from her phone call. "I'm gonna have to leave you to it... Sorry," she sounded more apologetic this time. 

Adam looked up. "Everything all right?" 

"Yeah, well it will be! Chloe doesn't like her babysitter!" Rachel smiled. "Good luck with the quiz!" 

"Uh yeah," Adam replied. "I think we'll need it!" 

"We do if you keep writing down the wrong answers!" Hyper agreed with Sally. 

"What was the question?" Rachel asked as she picked up her jacket. 

"Who won the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest," Adam replied. "I suppose you know!" 

Rachel grinned. "It isn't what you've put down!" 

"Hey, I thought Ireland always won!" Adam argued. 

"You're so right there!" Hyper grinned. "But we do have to give someone else a chance occasionally!" 

"You mug!" George glared at Adam, who shrugged. 

"Ok, you know who it wasn't, but I don't suppose any of you know who it was!" Adam challenged, looking around the table. 

"Estonia..." Recall suddenly yelled out, then quickly looked around to make sure that none of the other teams had overheard! 

"See," Rachel told Adam. "I think he's recharged his batteries, you don't need me." 

"Oh, you never know..." 

"See you around, Adam," Rachel left the pub. 

"Oh well, there goes our hope of winning," Sally watched Rachel leave. 

"Really?" Hyper asked, grinning. "And I thought you were getting jealous there for a minute!" 

Sally glared at him. 

_London's Burning – Love Child © Karen Moody 05/05/2002_

  



	2. Part 2

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
Love Child ~ Part 2

Somehow Shadbrook had managed to win the quiz, not that it surprised anyone from Blackwall as they managed to loose half of their team! George and Andie had to leave to pick up Andie's son, Lenny, Rachel had run off to deal with her own child, and Adam kept ducking off to serve behind the bar. Hi-Ho had been gazing longingly at a girl on another team. Adam had offered to set up a date, so Hi-Ho had then tried to make out that he wasn't interested, he was just looking! 

Recall had been next to useless, pondering on the mystery of his sudden memory loss. Hyper and Sally had ended up answering most of the questions, fortunately one had popped up about the colours on the Irish flag. Shadbrook then made a fuss and reckoned Hyper shouldn't have been allowed to answer the question and accused Elaine of favouritism! Coleman had turned up late after sorting out some urgent business at Brigade HQ, which he refused to discuss with Blue Watch. Pearce hadn't turned up at all, which didn't really surprise anyone, he wasn't really one for socialising. 

The next duty Blue Watch had to face was a night shift. Thick black clouds, threatening rain had darkened the evening sky. A few puddles were dotted about the uneven ground around the station. 

"Evening," Adam grinned as he hauled a long metal sign into the station. 

"What is that for?" Hyper demanded, then realising that maybe he didn't want to know. 

"I need to store it somewhere," Adam explained. 

"Get a garage, you can't keep it here!" Hyper pointed out. 

"Chill, Rob, I'll move it later," Adam dumped the sign round the side of the station. 

"What if Pearce finds it?" Hyper questioned. 

"He won't," Adam was certain. "It's for my car." 

"Oh yeah," Hi-Ho asked. "What are you doing now?" 

Adam grinned. "Well, you could help me out there…" 

"Uh no," Hi-Ho cut him off. "I don't think so!" 

"Not even for a hundred quid?" 

"Not even for a thousand quid! I do still own a bit of my pride you know!" Hi-Ho disappeared into the station. 

Adam shrugged. "Rob?" he asked hopefully. 

"Um… well I would, but…" 

"What?" 

"I've um…" Hyper tried to think of a good excuse to get out of being roped into one of Adam's weird business ventures. "Doing what?" 

Adam grinned again. "Just a bit of painting and decorating." 

"Yeah, but painting and decorating what?" Hyper was sure there must be some sort of catch to it. 

With Adam, nothing was ever simple. 

"You'll see," Adam grinned. 

"It must be a big job for a hundred quid." 

But Adam refused to give away any details about the job, which convinced Hyper that there was something dodgey about the whole thing. Recall and George had also been roped into it, neither of them knew what was going on either. 

After role call, they tried to talk to Adam again, but he reckoned he didn't know the exact details and continued to fob them off. 

"It's for a nursery, that's all I know." 

"Hmmmn," Hyper wasn't convinced. 

"Honest!" 

They were interrupted as the bells went down. 

"RTA," Hi-Ho was the first to the Watch Room to grab the print out of the emergency call. "Dock Road, junction with Abbots Road," he announced. "Pump ladder only." 

Pearce was in charge of the crew, which consisted of Recall, Adam, Sally and Hi-Ho. They jumped into the cab and pulled out of the station. 

As they travelled to the shout, they were given further details over the radio. One of the vehicles involved was a Brigade pump, there was an increased urgency to get to the scene. 

They arrived to find the stricken appliance belonged to Shadbrook. It had been smashed head on into the brick wall of a boarded up shop, the front end now unrecognisable. 

"Jesus Christ!" Recall pulled Blackwall's pump to a stand still. 

They stared at the scene of devastation for a moment. 

"Hi-Ho, get these people back," Pearce was yelling as droplets of rain started splashing down around them. "Recall, check on the ambulance, Sally," he looked around for her and then realised she was standing right behind him, he stopped shouting. "Check for casualties, you too Adam." 

Sally and Adam were already over at the stricken appliance. Sally managed to get one of the back doors open, where she found Noddy, the guy who had been mouthing off at the quiz. 

"You ok?" she asked. 

"Yeah," he managed to free himself of the seat belt that may have saved his life. 

Adam had been trying to figure out where the appliance stopped and the wall started. The front doors had become impossible to open as they had folded themselves inwards, becoming just tangled twists of silver metal, charred with red paint. He managed to climb up to the broken window. 

"Steve?" he found Shadbrook's Watch Commander unconscious in the front seat. 

Then he noticed the driver. 

"Rachel…" he breathed. 

"Adam?" Sally was calling him from inside the cab. 

He looked round to see that she was now next to Steve. 

"I think I can just about squeeze in here," she was saying. 

Adam had jumped down and tried to get round to the drivers side, which had taken the full force of the impact. 

"Rachel?" he managed to climb up next to the body of the pretty girl, which had been pressed back against the seat. 

He tried to find a pulse, he took his hand away from her neck to find it covered in blood. 

"Rachel?" he tried to get some response out of her. "Come on, don't do this to me!" 

"What's happening?" Pearce had joined them. 

He started to discuss Steve's plight with Sally, then pointed out that they were unable to free Rachel until they had got Steve clear. 

"Adam…" Rachel murmured, recognising his voice. 

"Hey, I'm here," he reassured her. 

He tried to find her right hand, but came up against a wall of twisted metal. 

"Control can't give an ETA on the ambulance," Recall yelled over from Blackwall's pump. 

"The paramedics will be here soon," Pearce tried to be optimistic. "Adam, get into the back, support her head. Sally, Hi-Ho…" Pearce's voice trailed off as he continued to instruct Sally and Hi-Ho on how they should rescue Steve. 

Adam focused his attention on Rachel as he climbed into the back of the appliance. 

"I thought you'd gone…" Rachel tried making conversation. 

"You don't get rid of me that easily!" Adam replied. 

There was a pause as he tried to think of something to say that she hadn't heard before or even said herself to reassure other casualties. Something that would reassure her that everything would be fine. 

"Adam?" 

"What?" 

"I can't…" she paused. "I can't feel anything…" 

She had tears in her eyes, they both knew what that could mean. 

"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine." 

He needed her to believe that. He was worried that he didn't sound too sure himself. He knew that was because he was far from being sure that everything was going to be all right. But he wasn't going to let Rachel know that. 

"Adam," she started again. "Can you do me a favour?" 

"I thought you were the one who owed me a favour!" he pointed out. 

"Yeah, but, I want you to promise me something." 

"What?" 

"Whatever happens, make sure Chloe is looked after," Rachel urged. "And tell her I love her." 

"You can tell her yourself. You're gonna get out of this Rach." 

"Just promise me Adam." 

"Ok I promise," he hoped he wasn't going to need it. 

"Thank you," she whispered. 

He could hear her breathing slowing as she closed her eyes. 

"Rachel!" he tried to bring her back to consciousness. "Come on, think of Chloe…" 

But his words were lost on her. 

"Rach…" 

He knew it was the end. 

_London's Burning – Love Child © Karen Moody 05/05/2002_


	3. Part 3

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
Love Child ~ Part 3

"We were only with her last night…" Sally commented as Blue Watch sat around the mess table trying to take in the events of that evening. "At the quiz…" 

Hyper, who had been filled in on the events of the shout, put a comforting arm on her shoulder. Adam wasn't in the mess. He hadn't said a word to anyone since the shout, and had disappeared off somewhere as soon as the drained pump ladder crew arrived back at Blackwall. Pearce had been filling the Brigade in on the details, and was up in the office discussing matters with someone over the phone. 

The Watch sat in silence until Pearce joined them, a grim expression on his face. 

"What's going on Geoff?" Recall asked. 

"I've been told that Steve, Dave and Mike are going to make a full recovery," Pearce started. "In time…" 

"What happened to the ambulance?" Sally wanted to know. 

"Apparently they were dealing with a hoax call," Pearce explained. "The same one Shadbrook had been called to, before…" he trailed off. "The next nearest unit was miles away…" 

George shook his head in disbelief. "Bastards," he muttered. 

"Where's Adam?" Pearce asked, looking around the table. 

"I'll find him," Hyper offered, getting up as Pearce sat down.   


"Adam?" Hyper had found Adam sitting alone in the dark gym. 

He turned on the lights. 

"It's so unfair…" 

Hyper nodded in agreement. He wondered if he should tell Adam what Pearce had just told them. 

"She had a daughter didn't she?" Hyper wondered. 

Adam nodded. "Chloe, she's six. I promised I'd make sure she was ok." 

"Where is she now?" Hyper asked. 

"With a childminder," Adam explained. "I'll pick her up in the morning, she needs to know." 

"But the Brigade will do that," Hyper tried to point out. 

"She's six years old, Rob. She's not going to understand some uniformed officer that she's never met telling her that her mum's dead! I'll tell her, I owe it to Rachel." 

"Why?" Hyper asked. 

"I just do," Adam got up and headed for the door. 

"Adam," Hyper called after him. "Do you want us to come with you?" he offered. 

Adam turned back. 

"Me and Sal," Hyper continued. 

"Would you?" 

"Sure, mate." 

Adam nodded. "Thanks." 

Hyper sighed as Adam left the gym. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make things better.   


After work, the rain clouds had cleared to show the blue sky, streaked with soft white clouds. Adam headed straight for the childminder he knew Rachel used. The childminder, Sheila, was surprised to see him, but knew who he was. Sally and Hyper were confused as they tagged along, Adam had never explained any details about his relationship with Rachel. 

"Uncle Adam!" Chloe knew who he was as well. 

He lifted her up and hugged her. 

"Um Uncle Adam?" Sally questioned. 

Adam shrugged. "She has to call me something!" 

"I could think of a lot more suitable things!" she tried a light joke. 

"Yeah, I bet you could!" he put the little girl down. "This is Sally, and Rob," he told her. "They're going to look after you while I go and talk to Sheila, ok?" 

Chloe nodded. "Do you want to see my Fred?" she took Hyper's hand. 

"Um, Fred?" Hyper looked at Sheila for an explanation. 

"Fred is a girl," Sheila explained. "Her doll!" 

Hyper grinned. "Oh right!" he let Chloe drag him off in the direction of the stairs. "Where's Fred then?" he asked. 

Sally glanced at Adam. "Um, we'll just…" she pointed in the direction of the stairs, which Hyper and Chloe had just taken. 

Adam nodded. 

"What's going on?" Sheila started as Sally left them. "It was on the news, what happened Adam?" 

They went into the front room, and closed the door so that Chloe wouldn't hear them talking. 

"There was an accident," he started. 

"Yeah, they said someone was killed…" 

"It was Rachel..," 

"Oh my…." Sheila had to sit down. "Jesu… What about Chloe? I can't look after her, I mean…" 

"Yeah don't worry," Adam assured her. "I'll sort that out." 

"Ok, you know where I am if you need me." 

Adam nodded. 

"I don't believe…" Sheila trailed off. "The poor kid. Who's going to tell her?" 

"I will, I guess I'm the nearest thing she's got to family at the moment."   


Chloe didn't seem to have a problem talking to strangers and started chatting non-stop to Hyper and Sally about a girl at school who kept copying her hair bobbles. 

"She has the cow one now," Chloe was moaning as they headed back to the Oliver Twist. "I had that first! Mum got it from the shop. Are we going to see Mum yet?" she demanded suddenly. 

"Soon," Adam promised. "She wanted me to look after you this morning, if that's cool with you?" 

"Can I have a sweetie?" Chloe asked noticing Hyper had found a packet of mints in his pocket. 

She then started going on about Carla Radcliffe and her hair bobbles again. Adam wondered how he would go about breaking the news. 

"How am I going to tell her Rob?" he asked as they watched Sally and Chloe laughing together. 

Hyper shrugged. "I dunno, mate. Tell her the truth I guess. If you don't tell her someone else will, and I've got a feeling it would be better coming from you!" 

"Yeah," Adam agreed. 

"What about Rachel's family?" Hyper asked. "The only next of kin the Brigade has are Chloe and…" he paused. "You." 

"Me?" Adam was amazed. "What does she want to put me down for?!" 

"Well, I was hoping you could clear that up!" 

"Her parents live in New Zealand, I dunno where." 

"What about Chloe's father?" Hyper enquired. "Unless, it's you…!" 

"What? No! There was a time… I thought… maybe… But no she's not mine," Adam explained. "I'm just plain old Uncle Adam. Although I suppose I am responsible for her father going back to New Zealand." 

"Why? What happened? Or don't I need to ask!" 

"Once, six years ago," Adam started. "It was just bad timing. Paul caught us and well… off he went. Rachel tried to tell him about Chloe but he just didn't want to know, not that I blame him. So it's my fault Chloe doesn't have a father." 

"Can't you contact him?" 

"If he came back to London the first thing he would do is punch my lights out! But I suppose it's what I deserve. I expect Rachel will have his address somewhere." 

Chloe ran over to them, Adam picked her up. 

"We went out the other day," he told Hyper. "Sheila was ill, that's why Rachel owed me a favour…" he trailed off and looked at Chloe. 

He wondered if she sensed that something was up. 

"Is Mummy working late again?" Chloe wanted to know. 

Adam sighed. He knew it was time.   


_London's Burning – Love Child © Karen Moody 05/05/2002_


	4. Part 4

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
Love Child ~ Part 4

He decided they should be alone for this part. He thanked Hyper and Sally for their support, but knew that at the end of the day it was down to him. He was the one who had messed up six years ago. He decided that if he had never met Rachel then none of this would be happening now. Chloe would have had a stable and loving family and not have her life constantly filled with strangers. 

"Is my mum coming back?" Chloe started asking. 

"No, Chloe, no she isn't," he replied carefully. 

"Where is she?" 

"I don't know," he paused. "There was an accident last night, she was hurt pretty bad and we couldn't do anything to make her better again." 

"Is she coming back?" 

Adam shook his head and hugged the little girl. 

"Has she gone to Heaven?" Chloe asked. 

"Yeah," Adam replied. "Yeah I think she has." 

She didn't cry as he held her in his arms. He wondered if she really understood what he had been trying to tell her.   


"I don't think she understands," Adam was telling Elaine. 

"She probably doesn't," Elaine agreed. "What are you going to do?" 

"Look after her, like I promised. At least then I can do something right by Rachel!" 

"But what about work, and the pub?" Elaine asked. 

Adam glared at her. "Don't you care?" 

"Of course I care, I'm just being practical. Chloe needs her father," Elaine tried to point out. 

"I've been more of a father to her than Paul has!" Adam argued. "I can't send her to live with someone she has never even met!" 

"Call him, Adam," Elaine urged. "He has a right to know what's going on." 

Adam sighed. At the moment he had four rest days, but it did start to cross his mind what would happen when he started on watch again. Rachel had managed only because she had spent a fortune on childminders. She'd had trouble trying to find one who would look after Chloe during a night duty, she reckoned she had been lucky to find Sheila. 

Rachel had arrived from New Zealand with her boyfriend Paul. He had been a businessman, transferred to the London branch of whomever it was he worked for. Adam had met Rachel when she had been working in a supermarket, which had flooded and the fire brigade had been called out. Rachel reckoned she needed to change her life, he joked she should join the Fire Brigade, he was surprised when she actually did! 

Fate had drawn them together when they were posted at the same station. She was still seeing Paul but one night things had got out of control. 

The Watch had gone on a beano to Brighton. Paul had tagged along but Rachel had managed to slip away from him in favour of a walk along the beach with Adam, in the soft glow of the evening sunshine set in the pink sky. 

"I don't think Paul understands me sometimes," Rachel confided. 

"Why?" Adam enquired. "I thought you two were love's young dream!" 

"Maybe we were… once. He's too busy with work, and he keeps dropping hints about wanting to go back home." 

"And you don't want to?" 

"I like England." 

"Why?!" he wondered. "What is there to like about England?!" 

"There's plenty of hunky guys." 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah, in fact I'm with one right now…" 

They stopped under the shade of the tall metal structure of the pier. 

"I don't date girls with boyfriends…" he started. 

"Who said anything about a date?" 

"Or work colleagues." 

"If you don't want to Adam…" she started to walk away. 

He stopped her. "No… I mean… yeah…" he paused. "What about Paul?" 

His question was left unanswered as she wrapped her lips around his, closely followed by shoving her tongue down his throat. 

From the promenade, Paul glanced down towards the pier. He saw a young couple embracing, and didn't give them a second thought. He looked away again. Then something made him look back. He swallowed hard.   


"You know what you were saying about you not dating work colleagues…" Rachel started as they sat down in the mess together a few weeks later. 

"Um yeah…" Adam took a drink of tea. 

"Well you don't need to worry about that anymore." 

"Why?" 

"I'm leaving." 

"Are you going after Paul?" 

"I'm pregnant." 

He put the cup down on the table, splashing the remains of the tea over the table. "Do what?!" 

She stood up and left the mess. He left his cup on the table to follow her. 

"Rachel!" 

He didn't get any further as they had got a shout. 

He tried to talk to her about it, but it was difficult in front of the rest of the Watch. None of them knew what was, or had been, going on. Or if they did, they hadn't said anything about it. Paul had left her, telling her that he knew all about her and Adam. He had gone back to New Zealand, she had decided her life was in London. 

Now she had dropped this bombshell on him. He didn't know what to think. He had tried confiding in Elaine, not that she was much help. She reckoned he needed to find out the truth about the child's paternity, one way or another. He told Rachel that whatever the outcome he would be there for her. He knew what it was like to grow up in a disjointed family, an absent mother and a father who was only around when he was let out for good behaviour. He felt it was something no child should have to go through. 

Rachel had been touched by his concern, but had assured him that the baby belonged to Paul. He still wasn't a hundred per cent certain about that, maybe the baby had been born late… 

Paul didn't want to know when Rachel tried to tell him. He had convinced himself that Adam was the father and refused to come back to England. Adam had then taken it upon himself to become a substitute father to the little girl, maybe it was just an attempt to rid himself of the guilt he had for driving her real father away. After his own experiences, he felt that every child needed some sort of father figure. Rachel had agreed and he became "Uncle Adam". 

He started by going round every day, Rachel thought he was smothering her, so he decided to lay off. The visits slowly became few and far between, until they stopped altogether. Rachel started back at work, he wanted to give them money but there came a point when she refused to take it. She said she felt that she needed to provide for Chloe herself, and had then gone on to say, maybe a little harshly, that there was nothing between them anymore. He considered himself dumped. 

They had only met up again recently when Rachel transferred to neighbouring station Shadbrook. She had made it clear that they couldn't pick up where they left off. At least they could still be friends, he had got to know Chloe again. It surprised him how well Rachel had been coping with shift work and bringing up a child. She reckoned it had been hard, but then told him that she was glad he had been there at the beginning. She said she didn't know how she would have managed without him. 

Sometimes he found her difficult to work out. She made it clear that she didn't want a relationship yet she continued to flirt with him. He then started to wonder if that was really what was happening, or if it was just what he wanted to happen. He decided to stick with the "just being friends", it proved to be much less hassle for everyone involved. 

He had taken Chloe out for the day when Sheila, the childminder, had fallen ill with some 24-hour bug. Rachel had been working and he had a day off to recover from a particularly nasty shout the day before. He knew Chloe had enjoyed spending time with him. He took her to London Zoo and Madame Tussauds, then on the London Eye. She commented that her mum never had time to take her out like this. They paid a quick visit to the Aquarium across the River from Westminster, and finished in McDonald's where Chloe told him that this had been the best day of her life. 

He was touched by the comment from the six-year-old.   


_London's Burning – Love Child © Karen Moody 05/05/2002_


	5. Part 5

**LONDON'S BURNING**   
Love Child ~ Part 5

"If you're gonna hit me, can we just get it over with?" 

"I'm not going to hit you, Adam," Paul reassured him. "Six years ago I probably would have done! Were you there when… you know?" 

"Yeah." 

Adam had decided to phone Paul. Rachel had kept his address and phone number since she had been trying to convince him that he had fathered a child, all those years ago. Paul, strangely enough, had agreed to meet up and reckoned he had to come to England anyway to sort out some business. They sat on the patio of a riverside café, mutual ground. Adam had explained what had happened to Rachel. He had to keep pausing, the more he told the story the more real it became. 

"But Chloe has never even met me!" Paul pointed out. 

"She looks like you, if that's any help!" Adam offered. 

"Really? You reckon?" Paul asked. 

"Well, she doesn't look like me!" 

"Oh, she must have been blessed then!" 

"She is your daughter, Paul. We, me and Rachel, we only did it the once." 

"Yeah, under Brighton Pier! You could have thought of somewhere more romantic couldn't you?!" 

Adam shrugged. "It just happened." 

"Yeah, I don't think I want to know the details!" Paul remarked. "I don't know what you expect me to do." 

"She needs her father, her real father." 

"Have you told her about Rachel?" 

"I tried, I don't think she really understands." 

"I've got a new family," Paul started. "Back at home, wife, two kids. Chloe… she's not part of my life." 

"Just meet her," Adam begged. "She's a great kid." 

"She had a great mother." 

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "Yeah she did. Will you come and meet her?" 

"What if she doesn't like me?" 

Adam shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I'm gonna have to call Social Services. I don't want that, but… I can't look after a child, it's not practical with work and the pub… and it's not me!" 

Paul nodded. "I'll meet her," he agreed.   


The first meeting between Paul and Chloe didn't go exactly as planned. Chloe, it seemed, had finally had enough of being passed from pillar to post, from stranger to stranger. She refused to talk to Paul, and when she did speak to her father it was only to be rude to him. Adam found it difficult to discipline her, it really made him see that he was not cut out for the parenting lark, especially to a kid who was extremely likely not to be his. 

Adam had no choice but to involve Social Services. Chloe was taken to a foster home. He went to visit her when he could. She was happy to see him but couldn't understand why she couldn't live with him. After all, her mum had been able to cope. He had no real answers for her. When he tried mentioning Paul, she would just throw a wobbler and storm off. He tried to make her see that she should give her father a chance. 

It took a bit of convincing to bring Paul back to England. This time he brought his family, after explaining the situation to his wife Caroline. As it turned out, Caroline was much more equipped to deal with Chloe and pointed out that the girl was probably just missing her mother! She didn't seem to mind the fact that her husband had another child he had never told her about. In fact, she had known Rachel, they went to school together back in New Zealand. 

They took Chloe out a few times. She ended up being their tour guide of London, after learning all about the certain places from her various school trips and the outings Uncle Adam had taken her on. 

He was happy when she started to warm to her new family.   


"So it's today then?" Hyper asked as he and Adam checked over the ALP at the start of duty. 

"Yep," he didn't really want to talk about it. 

"You're going to miss her aren't you?" Hyper noted. 

Adam nodded. "Sometimes I felt like she was my own, you know?" 

"Um, no I can't say I do!" 

"I suppose it's the nearest I'm ever gonna get." 

"Join the club, mate!" 

Adam grinned. 

"Hey," Hi-Ho butted in to their conversation. "Didn't you have a decorating job on not so long ago?" 

"I thought you didn't want any part in that?" Hyper pointed out. 

"I didn't, but er… something's come up," Hi-Ho replied. "You haven't done it yet have you?" 

"In case you hadn't noticed, Hi-Ho, I have been a little busy these past few weeks!" Adam reminded him. 

"Is it still on then or not?" Hi-Ho pressed. 

"I dunno. Give them a call and find out," Adam offered. "You can take the job if you like. Wendy's Nurseries, I've got the number somewhere." 

"Right, yeah I will, cheers!" Hi-Ho seemed happy with the prospect of earning loads of money. 

"Um, did you say Wendy's Nurseries?!" Hyper asked as Hi-Ho went off towards the BA room. 

"Yeah, why?" Adam turned his attention back to checking the operation of the ALP. 

"I just thought you told us it was a children's nursery." 

"Yeah, it is isn't it?" 

"Er… no, Wendy's Nurseries is a garden centre!" Hyper pointed out. 

"Is it?!" Adam asked, he hadn't known. 

Hyper nodded. 

"Oh…" Adam paused. "Perhaps they wanted flower arrangers then…" 

They both burst out laughing as the bells went down. 

They refused to let Hi-Ho in on the joke as they scrambled into the appliances to attend a fire in a block of flats. Lights flashing, two tones blaring, Blue Watch pulled out of the station on to the busy road and headed for the fire. 

Later that evening, Adam would be saying his final farewells to Chloe as she left for her new life in New Zealand with her father, on the eve of her seventh birthday.   


_London's Burning – Love Child © Karen Moody 05/05/2002_


End file.
